Crackdown on travel agents in Amritsar, 23 licences cancelled

The district administration has launched a crackdown on unscrupulous travel agents following reports of youths from the region continuing to fall prey to lucrative job offers in Russia.

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The development came days after the Union Government confirmed that it was aware of several cases of Indians misled into joining the Russian army to fight its war against Ukraine.

Though the administration could not find the role of any immigration agency in sending youths to Russia, it cancelled the licences of at least 23 agents. These included two firms which committed frauds by taking money from people on the pretext of sending them abroad. Their cases have been forwarded to the police for further action.

The licences of the remaining travel agents were cancelled as they did not apply for a renewal and the notices sent to them too remained unanswered.

Social activist Jagdeep Kumar, who has been trying to rescue Indian youths, including his brother Mandeep Kumar, from Ukraine war zone, said the entire exercise of the district administration seemed to be an eyewash. Licences of only those immigration agencies were cancelled which were already defunct and had not applied for the renewal of their permit, he said, adding that the government must track agencies operating online.

Deputy Commissioner Sakshi Sawhney said, “At least 90 travel agencies are under scrutiny even as the administration didn’t receive any complaint from Russia returnees nor did it find the involvement of any agent in sending local youths to Russia after hiring them as delivery boys and porters.”

The district has nearly 860 registered travel agencies. Hired as porters and delivery boys in Russia, many youths from the border district had found themselves deployed in the Ukraine war. Those rescued from the warzone say they were lured by travel agents through online advertisements.

Baljinder Singh, an immigration agency operator, said he was not aware of agents sending youths to Russia, although the practice could not be ruled out. He said a majority of the local youths who went to Russia must have applied online after coming across misleading advertisements on social media.